Itās always good to have someone who can cover for you at work ā particularly if you canāt actually do your job all that well.
Such is the case with Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman. The newly elected Democrat has assured his constituents that, despite having a stroke just before the primary last year, heād be perfectly capable of performing his elected duties. A long spell in the hospital for treatment of depression seemed to cast doubt upon this, as has his cognitive difficulties since then.
Not that youād know it by looking at transcripts of his remarks, however. According to Fox News, many of Fettermanās remarks have been doctored by the senatorās office to make him look more coherent than he actually is.
āThe issue exploded on Wednesday when Jeff Stein, a Washington Post economics reporter, admitted to amplifying a misquote Fettermanās office provided to him, which had significantly altered Fettermanās actual statements,ā Fox News reported.
āStein received backlash for tweeting that Fetterman had asked Silicon Valley Bank ex-CEO Greg Becker, āShouldnāt you have a working requirement after we bail out your bank? Republicans seem to be more preoccupied with SNAP requirements for hungry people than protecting taxpayers that have to bail out these banks.'ā
āThat was my fault,ā Stein wrote. āThough it captured his meaning, I deleted the tweet once some of the words in the quote were inaccurate.ā
Fettermanās exact remarks were, um, not that:
āThe Republicans want to give a work requirement for SNAP,ā Fetterman said in reality.
āYou know, for a uh, uh, uh, a hungry family has to have these, this kind of penalties, or these some kinds of word ā working uh, require ā Shouldnāt you have a working requirement, after we sail your bank, billions of your bank? Because you seem we were preoccupied, uh when, then SNAP requirements for works, for hungry people, but not about protecting the tax, the tax papers, you know, that will bail them out of whatever does about a bank to crash it.ā
Fox News noted that āhile it is common for reporters to leave out filler words like āumā and āyou knowā when transcribing remarks, the extreme changes to Fettermanās actual words in the quote Stein tweeted left onlookers stunned.ā
Moreover, further video of Fetterman from the Silicon Valley Bank hearing did not evince a man who was in tip-top form aside from this:
Nor, in fact, was this a one-time event from Fettermanās office, as Fox News noted.
This, for instance, was his officeās transcription of remarks during an April 26 hearing: āIām really excited about Whole-Home Repairs. Here in Pennsylvania, one of my friends, Nikil Saval in the Senate, shepherded it. And he got linked up with the Republicans and they actually created one of the first kinds of a program like this in the nation.
āI come from a community here, in Braddock, Pennsylvania, where your home can go bad really quickly. And Iām really excited that we can take something like that, which is happening in Pennsylvania, and take it federal.ā
These were his actual remarks: āIām really excited by it, because here in Pennsylvania one of my friends really it, Nikil Saval, he was one of the literally ā quite literally ā as hard left as a politician Iām aware of ā you know ā certainly in the Senate,ā Fetterman says. āUm, he really helped shepherd that. And he got linked up with the Republicans, and he actually created the first kind of a program like this in the nation, you know. And one of my colleague ā Mr. Vance ā talked about well if thereās a leak in the ceiling, what if you donāt have the money to fix that? What can happen to that, kinda things?
āI come from a community down in Braddock, Pennsylvania, where thereās a lot of ā your home can go bad quickly if you were having those kinds ā so Iām a big ā you know ā Iām incredibly, I think Iām excited that could take from Pennsylvania and go federal.ā
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Meanwhile, this was his offices transcription of his remarks about marijuana legalization at a May 11 hearing: āWe need to make it legal,ā the transcription on Fettermanās website read. āI just believe itās a freedom issue. Iāve given hundreds of pardons to people who have had their lives ruined by a B.S. charge.ā
Actual quote: nothing close.
āI donāt know anyone that walks in and is, āoh, my god I ended up with grain alcohol instead of this ā you know ā this bottle of red wine,'ā Fetterman said.
āPeople can understand that as well too. And it seems like it. And I donāt use marijuana. It can be made legal tomorrow in Pennsylvania, and Iām not going to. Just like Iām not going to use tobacco. And Iām just saying I support the Safe Act. But if we just made it legal, we donāt have the special Safe Beer Act or anything, we just need to make it legal in that. What Iām saying to you ā and Iām going to save you the last minute here ā is that I just believe itās freedom. I believe itās a freedom issue for people. And I believe itās making the legality, and Iāve been giving hundreds of hundreds of people pardons for having their lives ruined for having a B.S. ā excuse me ā a B.S. charge.ā
The Stein remarks were the third incident that Fox News could find that involved Fettermanās remarks being doctored by his office.
Why does it matter? Because this is the man Democrats want to pass off as being totally well:
Fetterman is emblematic of a serious problem in the Democratic Party that literally goes all the way to the top, in the Oval Office: Whether its President Joe Biden or congresspeople like Sens. Fetterman and Dianne Feinstein, the left side of the aisle is ready and more than willing to enable those who are unfit for office to continue in their roles. Fettermanās people doctoring his transcripts is just the tip of the iceberg ā but itās emblematic of a party willing to cover for whoever helps them hold onto power in Washington, D.C.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
